Rumors And Guess's

[Florida Ever-Glides]

This SC discussion site has gone in the last year from a fun and intelligent forum to nothing more than a series of rumors and guess's.

Is it just me, or is it getting boring for others too?

I love working with my 15 Segways everyday and am very lucky to make a decent living teaching others to be proficient on the HT.

This 'rumor mill' is not very positive or proactive anymore. I'm going to concentrate my energy on making my business even better and more safe.

Coming up on one year and over 3,000 riders its time to focus on 'the next level'.

While I'm gone, please 'play' nice...


Tom Jacobson
http://www.floridaever-glides.com

[macgeek]

Tom,
Why the hostility?

Rumors and guesses are fun, as someone once said
how many times can you give the same answer about a saftey shutdown
or battery life?

We do not attack each other (well, most of us don't)
we talk about whats coming and whats not.

BIG DEAL...

Im sorry we don't reach the level of complexity the site had in its early days.
for me a 'newbie' I find this place exciting.

Jonathan

Segway - "Let's Roll"
Centaur - "Lets Roll on all fours"
www.segwaygeek.com

[Florida Ever-Glides]

I can see why a 'newbie ' will find SC exciting. Maybe it was my newness a year ago that made it exciting for me then. Hey, I'm not putting the site down, it has done GREAT things. Its just not the same experience for me that it was a year ago. I'll just make room for new blood.

The number of participating members on this site is such a small percentage of the total number of HT owners today, the overall revelance of the site is being diminished. The majority of HT owners are out there enjoying the fun and benefits without a care of what color the next HT will be or the 'hot topic' of the Today Show.

I hope that one day this SC site will evolve with the changing times of the HT to welcome new 'revelant topics'. When that day comes, which I hope is sooner rather than later, I would love to once again contribute the vast experience and knowledge that I am gaining each day.

My public relations arm is again reaching out to millions of people all over the world. I hope that the wonderful media exposure that I continue to receive is blessing LLC and the growth/aceptance of the HT all over...



Tom Jacobson
http://www.floridaever-glides.com

[Neelix]

I too am tired of the constant rumor mongering. Its become a joke in our house to say: "I heard from a dealer that...."

Of course, I'm also tired of people accepting the rumors as gospel as soon as they are posted, in some ways, thats even worse.

Speculation is never bad, but saying "Oh, this is whats going to happen, I heard from *insert X person* so it must be true." is not cool.

Here's the difference:

Good way: "Hey, do you ever think that they'd phase out the I series?"

Bad way: "I heard from a dealer that they're going to phase out the I and sell a bigger, faster Segway that can go up to mach 11, and had they released it a bit earlier it would have won the X prize, and is going to solve the world's hunger problems, and phase out the personal computer, cell phones, digital watches, CDs, DVDs, jewel cases, matches, nail clippers, post it notes, breathmints, orthodontia, bubblegum, video games, dice, diabetes, and cancer. Its also going to come in four different colors, you can mix and match, new batteries (in fact, the machine will only be $2000, its cheaper to buy a new machine that just the batteries!) It will have the automagicness of a Roomba with the power of a Dyson. You'll never use a washing machine again, the dishes will be done, and it will defend against any attacks on America by foreign nations. And it will be as loyal as a golden retreiever. So, no one buy ANY I's until this new uber-machine comes out!"

-------------------------
Fear not, for even though I come from the Forbidden City, I surely do not agree with the rules.
Chris Knight

[pam]

Well, rumors and guesses (particularly about the HT and Segway as a business) have been around since long before the reveal - it's a part of the nature of the beast, I guess. Rumors always seen to follow technology - after all, who gets excited about changes in formulations to toilet tissue? I think it behooves us to remember that until something is actually released from LLC, it's still rumor and not get our knickers in a twist. For those who tend to assume the worst (and we all know who we are), maybe just stepping back and WAITING until we have evidence that some projected situation is actually going to happen before we jump in and threaten to sue the world (and Segway in particular), would be a wiser choice.
Pam

[RAG1247]

quote:Originally posted by Florida Ever-Glides

I can see why a 'newbie ' will find SC exciting. Maybe it was my newness a year ago that made it exciting for me then. Hey, I'm not putting the site down, it has done GREAT things. Its just not the same experience for me that it was a year ago. I'll just make room for new blood.

The number of participating members on this site is such a small percentage of the total number of HT owners today, the overall revelance of the site is being diminished. The majority of HT owners are out there enjoying the fun and benefits without a care of what color the next HT will be or the 'hot topic' of the Today Show.

I hope that one day this SC site will evolve with the changing times of the HT to welcome new 'revelant topics'. When that day comes, which I hope is sooner rather than later, I would love to once again contribute the vast experience and knowledge that I am gaining each day.

My public relations arm is again reaching out to millions of people all over the world. I hope that the wonderful media exposure that I continue to receive is blessing LLC and the growth/aceptance of the HT all over...



Tom Jacobson
http://www.floridaever-glides.com


Tom: you are doing a great job with your tour business!!!!!

now that that is over with........ what do you consider to be a relevant topic?????

I agree that sometimes various posts are boring (to those of us have been round for a while) and that some are ridiculous, but every now and then some posts are good and informative.

One of the problems is that after 2 years there is not much to say



Richard
Ft. Lauderdale

If you can’t change the people around you, change the people around you [img=right]http://www.sonyguy.com/rageagle.jpg[/img=right]

[tomamil]

This just in from the Heresy Department:

The site has become a bit boring, but it's not the site's fault. Segway itself has become rather a bore, because it's not going anywhere. 5 miles out, 5 miles in, and so on and so forth, like a horizontal yo-yo, boy am I having fun (aren't I?) -- but no impact on anything important.

So much promise, so little delivery! Its the sadness of that, and the forced boosterism employed to keep it at bay, that has produced the boredom and tedium lately so much in evidence.

Please don't all agree with me at once!

Tom A. Milstein

Segways should be everywhere by now!

[Itsi Atkins]

I was going to wait until the site is up, but I am in total agreement with tomamil and Tom. I will soon be hosting a new site. Segway International Network. forum and newspaper. It will be a compliment to the Segwaychat and SegAmerica's work and add another choice, a site that is focused on international use and advancement of technology. It is intended for segway owners and non segway owners who want to promote alternative transportation choices, for advancing EPAMD laws, for understanding and accepting Segway technology. I hope to have reps from all part of the globe and interesting and intelligent copy. I want to link our site to others like new urbanist, NY Hall of Science, Atlantis, Green Map Atlas. I want to publish submitted copy, editorials and keep it fresh, entertaining and support worldwide Segway awareness. If you want to help contact me. If not just wait until the web design is finished, and take a look at SIN.

[RAG1247]

quote:Originally posted by Itsi Atkins

I was going to wait until the site is up, but I am in total agreement with tomamil and Tom. I will soon be hosting a new site. Segway International network. forum and newspaper. It will be a compliment to the Segwaychat and SegAmerica's work and add another choice, that of focus on international use and advancement of technology. It is intended for segway owners and non segway owners who want to promote alternative transportation choices, for advancing EPAMD laws, for understanding and accepting Segway technology. I hope to have reps from all part of the globe and interesting and intelligent copy. I want to link our site to others like new urbanist, NY Hall of Science, Atlantis, Green Map Atlas. I want to publish submitted copy, editorials and keep it fresh, entertaining and support worldwide Segway awareness. If you want to help contact me. If not just wait until the web design is finished, and take a look at SIN.




good luck Itsi.............but if there is nothing to talk about, there is nothing to talk about



Richard
Ft. Lauderdale

If you can’t change the people around you, change the people around you [img=right]http://www.sonyguy.com/rageagle.jpg[/img=right]

[Itsi Atkins]

CNN has proven you can always find something to talk about! Add humor, pictures, gossip, technology news, and the status of the World on Segway use. Find other like sites which want to rid the world of cars and fumes. Look for SEG (smart, enviromental and green) choices.

[Brooster]

While I don't disagree with all of what's been said here, this IS still our "meeting place," and I'm grateful that it's available to us. I'd sure miss it if it were to go away. I appreciate the work that Frank and the moderators do to keep it going.

The 10mph thing is pretty exciting, I think. Hopefully there will be other good "stuff" to talk about as time goes on.



Brooster

[tomamil]

Well, Broo, I think it fell flat as a pancake. I hope it was as thrilling for the participants as it wasn't for America, which never even noticed it.

This is exactly what I mean by boosterism.

We early adopters can go on gushing till our wells run dry, but we'll never be able to make up for the lack of business imagination at LLC (note I said business, not technological, imagination).

Just my opinion -- but I happen to be right.

quote:Originally posted by Brooster

While I don't disagree with all of what's been said here, this IS still our "meeting place," and I'm grateful that it's available to us. I'd sure miss it if it were to go away. I appreciate the work that Frank and the moderators do to keep it going.

The 10mph thing is pretty exciting, I think. Hopefully there will be other good "stuff" to talk about as time goes on.



Brooster



Tom A. Milstein

Segways should be everywhere by now!

[Brooster]

quote:Originally posted by tomamil

We early adopters can go on gushing till our wells run dry, but we'll never be able to make up for the lack of business imagination at LLC (note I said business, not technological, imagination).


No argument here, Tom. :)

Brooster

[macgeek]

"it" as in IT? or it as in 'it; what is it???

Jonathan



Segway - "Let's Roll"
Centaur - "Lets Roll on all fours"
www.segwaygeek.com

[tomamil]

The 10 MPH snooze thing, Jonathan. That was the "it" referred to.

quote:Originally posted by macgeek

"it" as in IT? or it as in 'it; what is it???

Jonathan



Segway - "Let's Roll"
Centaur - "Lets Roll on all fours"
www.segwaygeek.com


Tom A. Milstein

Segways should be everywhere by now!

[macgeek]

Ahh, thanks tom. I was talking to Gannon that when they arrived in boston, the news coverage was depressing. the news coverage at LLC was a bit better. but still other cross country trips have produced ticker tape parades down 5th avenue. this one got a brief mention on cnn.

:(

Jonathan

Segway - "Let's Roll"
Centaur - "Lets Roll on all fours"
www.segwaygeek.com

[tomamil]

An ill-conceived venture, Jonathan.

Segway is a local-distance vehicle. Cars and aircraft are regional and continental in scope. Segging across America is interesting from the standpoint of the history of eccentric adventures, but of no transportation significance whatsoever. Sort of like rowing across the Atlantic or rollerskating down the PanAmerican Highway.

They put it to the exact opposite of its real purpose (if it has one) -- which is to revolutionize local-distance transit in Urban America.

Just my opinion, of course. But I happen to be right.

quote:Originally posted by macgeek

Ahh, thanks tom. I was talking to Gannon that when they arrived in boston, the news coverage was depressing. the news coverage at LLC was a bit better. but still other cross country trips have produced ticker tape parades down 5th avenue. this one got a brief mention on cnn.

:(

Jonathan

Segway - "Let's Roll"
Centaur - "Lets Roll on all fours"
www.segwaygeek.com


Tom A. Milstein

Segways should be everywhere by now!

[KSagal]

I agree with Tom on this last point. I met (and enjoyed doing it) the 10MPH crew and applaud their accomplishment, but still don't understand that the segway was integral to the movie they shot. It was simply a tool to keep them at 10mph.

I recently heard a short blerb about a guy who was the first to take a jet ski accross the Atlantic. He actually made the trip from Rome to Miami. I'm sure it was a big deal for him, and maybe the manufacturer of that particular jet ski, but no one else.

I doubt that there will not be a large trend to start segging accross the continent, nor jetskiing across oceans.

I think it is normal for people to get bored with a discussion of the same ole' thing. For those that have had a seg for two years, not much new has been introduced to the seg world save for some politicing and staffing changes at LLC.

The color changes from the 167 to the 170 were it. That is thin. One of the reasons that car companies have changes to their models each year has nothing to do with performance. The vast majority of these changes has to do with the need to have the newest and the greatest to talk about.

LLC has gone thru a dry spell with regard to newer and greater developments to marvel at. So be it, and it explains how this forum may have less to offer to the old timers.

To a person that just bought a seg, this place is a font of information, and therefore still very exciting.

The design engineers seem to be having their day. The centaur is real. Available for retail has yet to be determined. New batteries are real. When is yet to be revealed. New models, not just new paint has been leaked out. Do they exist? I think it is likely.

I surely have been guilty of being baited into responding to that which I would be better off not. So be that. When the next several months go by, and real information is released by LLC, the speculators will still have their opportunity, but will not be on the stage alone, as they are now.

The interest in Seg will respond to the newer and greater! That is the reality of marketing and the way the majority of us are hard wired.

How many of us have upgraded or traded in a car or other device, not because it was particularly bad for it's age, but rather because we had owned it for a while and were tired of the same ole' thing. Sometimes we need a new one just to have new things to marvel at or complain about.

As much as I like the seg, it is not immune to this. Neither is this forum.

To all those that need to take a break, go ahead. To all of those who stir things up, have a ball, just remember that things that make sense in a vacuum sometimes seem silly next to real facts. Keep putting it out there, someone will bite.

Karl Ian Sagal

Each road you travel should be just a bit better for having had you pass.

[GyroGo]

"SIN", Itsi? Best of luck, but "SIN"?

A dealer told me that he heard a rumor from someone who might know that you will probably feature a hot centerfold model and batteries in your first issue. Anyway, I lost the e-mail, but do like the color blue and New Mexico. Anti-Gravity. Shhhh. 8400units. software version 12.7b. Send $1000 to Steve. 14mph. CEO 9, 2007. electriped. LLC stable, balanced books, gyroscopically tenderized.

I'm feeling a little unbalanced today.

:D

[opti6600]

No Tom, don't touch me there!

Oh, sorry, I...just woke up...whoops. But yeah, I'd concur. I think it's a number of things, but we just weren't able to save the forum after SF03, I think...

[wayne]

I see a few post are missing. Did someone post a picture of the new big wheel Segway to soon and get someone upset?

Seg-On
Wayne

[hhaurgon]

Wow. First I must say that I agree with almost everything Karl said (don't worry, I'm not hitting on you anymore...tease).

I second (or third) what everyone has been saying. The hype is over, the product is out there, and there hasn't really been any further innovation. I think the constant management turnover has really hurt some of the new product development efforts and caused the departure of some good people from LLC.

They have shown with the Centaur that they still have some tricks up their sleeve, but I, for one, see the Centaur as a toy and find it hard to believe it will ever be allowed on public roads. The other biggest story was the Sams sale - it is pretty sad that doing something that should have been done 2 years ago generated so much buzz.

Look at it this way, though. When the rumors and speculation stop, that just means no one cares any more.



Hugh

[MowAlon]

I'm a little reluctant to post to this thread, but I can't resist throwing in my two cents too.

First off, I think we're all hurting ourselves by looking at Segway as if it exists in such a small timeframe - the here and now, I mean. Before the company was even called "Segway," the product existed for a years and was in early development for even longer. You shouldn't expect a product whose development cycle was between five and ten years to evolve so quickly. I mean, I too would love to see new ideas hitting the shelf every six months, but it's just not realistic. If Segway pushed so fast, do you really think the only thing we'd be complaining about is range? When we compare the product to an automobile, we should be happy that it's a horrible analogy. I just rode across the country with a Segway which had almost no problems whatsoever making the trip. It's a testament to the robustness of the product, and I'm proud that LLC put the time into it that it did.

I was priviledged enough to "get a glimpse of the future" at Segway LLC. The company isn't standing still hoping that one day people will just buy the product, as if they woke up from a bad dream in which they walked everywhere instead of gliding. I wish they could put out new stuff all the time too, but we need to start looking at things with a wider perspective. For a highly engineered product - and I know we're all happy that so much engineering does go into it - you won't see revisions all the time, but you'll be happy with the thought and expertise that goes into the revisions that happen.

Like I said, this is just my two cents. The absolute bottom line of the argument exists in each of us. Do you trust that excellent, motivated, capable people are at the heart of the company? After meeting the development team, I, for one, believe so. If you believe it too, you just need to remember that and wait. It's tough when you find yourself so invested in something, but it's reality, and you're better off dealing with it than feeling bad and negative.

-Alon

--------------------
Crossing the country on a Segway...

Follow along at http://www.10mph.com

[pam]

Amen, Alon.
Pam

[ElectraGlide]

quote:Originally posted by Brooster

The 10mph thing is pretty exciting, I think. Hopefully there will be other good "stuff" to talk about as time goes on.



Did ANYONE outside of SegwayChat or owners community even hear of that group travelling cross-country...or even care? As time goes on I still dont see any Segways when I'm out gliding....only two sightings in the past 2 years! I think interest is wanning .
However, I do really enjoy riding mine and participating in SC forums, but the "newness" is wearing off, and yes...there's just SO MANY times you can explain the KEY TAP METHOD.

Steve

[SegwayUtah]

quote:Originally posted by ElectraGlide

Did ANYONE outside of SegwayChat or owners community even hear of that group travelling cross-country...or even care? As time goes on I still dont see any Segways when I'm out gliding....only two sightings in the past 2 years! I think interest is wanning .
However, I do really enjoy riding mine and participating in SC forums, but the "newness" is wearing off, and yes...there's just SO MANY times you can explain the KEY TAP METHOD.

Steve,

The 10mph guys got a lot of press, and lots of people saw them. We are certainly some of their biggest fans here though :)

As far as interest goes, I think we're being more accepted in society as something that's not "new." Which means that we don't have everyone staring at us as we ride around any more :)

But I still constantly hear people say to their friends "those things are so cool" after I pass. I still get questions from time to time. People would still love to own a Segway HT.

The fire is still alive -- it's just not a bonfire anymore: it's a controlled burn.

Chris

[woodenapple]

Alon expressed it very well. I am glad that LLC took the time and had the patience to engineer our segways so well. And I will patiently wait for whatever they do next, knowing that they will "Sell no wine before it's time".

Rodney

May all your days be Segway days!

[ElectraGlide]

quote:Originally posted by SegwayUtah

[quote]Originally posted by ElectraGlide


The fire is still alive -- it's just not a bonfire anymore: it's a controlled burn.

Chris

I love that metaphor....!! And yes, that describes it perfectly !

Steve

[GadgetmanKen]

<s>MowAlon</s>, my bad I've been doing that alot lately (must be having senior moments...(You'll see later what I'm talking about) :) Ahmm... JOSH, congradulations on your successful cross country glide. With your 4,080+/- miles on the Segway, you have I imagine have obtained the most mileage as anyone on SC, at least in that short period of time.

What modifications or improvements do you think are absolutely necessary or would be improvements to the Segway in your eyes?

"Wouldn't it be cool, if?...is like Folgers in my cup"

[JohnM]

quote:Originally posted by GadgetmanKen

MowAlon, congradulations on your successful cross country glide. With your 4,080+/- miles on the Segway, you have I imagine have obtained the most mileage as anyone on SC, at least in that short period of time.


Pssstt .... It was Josh that rode the Segway. Alon, like the other members of the crew, spent most of their time in a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was a nasty job, but someone had to do it. http://www.10mph.com/video/Alondriving.mov

JohnM
If riding 2 hours is fun, then riding 20 hours is 10 times more fun.
RUSA #235

[PoloAk]

so much negative energy here. . .

For those that weren't at SegFest this year, there was a brilliant young engineer who outfitted his HT with a fuel cell. Instead of wondering what LLC is going to do next, why don't you do it for them? If y'all are really so upset with them make your own modifications and designs. They won't tell you no. And for those of you with patience, just wait. This is all a bit like wondering why Ford or GM doesn't come out with a new mid-year model; it's not in their time frame.

Let LLC do their job, you do yours, and we'll all meet up for a glide when the work is over :0



Kelsey

"Half of the world has an IQ of less than average. Think about it. . ."

[KSagal]

Bravo, Kelsey.

Well said.

Karl Ian Sagal

Each road you travel should be just a bit better for having had you pass.